Chapter 18: The Wall
"Do you really have to leave?" Kara asked, watching her surrogate father pack a bag of supplies.
"Yes. Waller has agents everywhere – eventually, one of them is going to catch sight of me here, if they haven't already." Slade replied, zipping the duffel bag up. "It's too dangerous for me to stay."
"Slade, we're not helpless kids anymore. Anything she can throw at us, we can handle ourselves." Barry said, trying to convince the older man to remain here, with them. They had just gotten him back, only to lose him again.
Slade sighed. "I know that. And let me tell you, this is the last thing I want to do. But it's too risky. You don't know her like I do – you only know of her by reputation. She will do anything to have me back under her control, including targeting you."
Oliver snorted. "I'd like to see her try." he muttered darkly.
"Oh, I have no doubt you four can take of yourselves, especially if you were trained by the League," and Slade winced at that. Learning where exactly his four charges had gone after his supposed death was not a happy memory, by a long shot. "But it still risks blowing your covers, which you can't afford to have. You," he pointed at Barry, "haven't found your mother's killer yet. And you," he moved his finger to Oliver, "still haven't discovered just what is about to go down in this city. Right now, with Waller after me, I'll only hinder you."
The four exchanged looks, and Oliver sighed. "Fine. We'll let you go. Just let us escort you out of the city first." Slade made to protest, but Oliver shook his head. "Don't worry. You said it yourself, Slade; we can take care of ourselves. And besides – I don't think any of us are ready to let you go just yet."
"I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise, am I." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Nope." Kal chirped. "We're all as stubborn as you." His three elder siblings nodded their agreement.
Slade barked out a genuine laugh at that.
"Here we are." Slade looked out at the dirt road, at the very edges of the outskirts of Starling City. Beside him was a motorbike, with enough fuel to make it to his destination of Opal City. His four charges had followed him, riding in a pickup truck with tinted windows to hide their faces.
"So, this is goodbye?" Barry asked, saddened.
Slade nodded. "For now. At least until I can find a way to get Waller off my tail."
"We could kill her." Oliver suggested darkly, already running plans through his head. Barry and Kal-El sighed in exasperation as they waited for the fireworks to starts. It was a retread of the argument they had back in the Foundry. Kara paid neither of them mind, having caught something with her supervision.
"And have the entire U.S. government on your asses? I think not." Slade said harshly, shutting down that train of thought immediately. "I know it's not ideal and I know my chances aren't great, but I rather have that than you even more danger than you already are."
"We're not amateurs Slade! We know how to cover our tracks!"
"It's still too risky!"
"If we didn't take the risks that we did on Lian Yu, we would be dead. Everything has a risk to it Slade. And I for one think this risk is worth it." Oliver passionately argued.
"Well, I don't, and I for one would rather slit my own throat rather than –"
"Guys!" Kara shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. She pointed.
A line of five armored cars were speeding down the dirt road, stopping right in front of them. The doors opened, and out poured dozens of what were presumably A.R.G.U.S. agents, dressed in S.W.A.T. gear and armed with guns, which they aimed at all five former castaways. Barry and Oliver were about to move to take them out, but Kara stopped them, her eyes narrowed.
In the last car, one final door opened, and a slim, African-American woman in blue business wear stepped out. The stone-cold expression on her face, the way that every man and woman moved in deference to her, made it obvious who she was.
Amanda 'The Wall' Waller.
Amanda Blake grew up in the Cabrini-Greene projects of Chicago. Rife with crime and poverty, she persevered, and it was there she would meet the man she would eventually marry: Joseph Waller. Their lives together were a financial struggle, dependent on the social programs and handouts from the state and federal governments. Even then, they didn't mind, happily in love and determined to raise their soon-to-be born son smart and strong, so he could finally escape the projects.
Alas, it was not meant to be – the serial rapist known as "Candyman" attacked Amanda, and while she managed to evade sexual assault, the trauma of the event caused her to miscarry. Her attacker, a prominent businessman, managed to buy his way out of a conviction, enraging Joseph. He would go on to kill the man who destroyed his and his wife's family and future, and in the process, lose his own life as well.
Devastated, Amanda Waller became a shell of a woman. But her insatiable need for success still remained, and so she moved forward, escaping the projects and earning a degree in political science. She would then become the campaign manager of a local politician, helping him get elected to Washington D.C. – first the Capitol Building, and then, the White House itself. The politician would take her with him as a Congressional aide, and that is where she truly began.
The traumatic circumstances that set Amanda down this path had left her cold, ruthless, stubborn, aggressive, and completely and utterly disposed towards taking down threats to the United States by any means necessary. After one too many missions, both on- and off-the-books, failing due to emotional trappings such as compassion and mercy, Amanda took things into her own hands, and using her political pull, was put in charge of a new agency – Advanced Research Group United Support, or A.R.G.U.S.
Ostensibly a research and special ops division, A.R.G.U.S. was created with one purpose: to protect the United States from terrorist threats, both domestic and international, by any means necessary. Amanda, as director of A.R.G.U.S., used whatever it took to eradicate her enemies, with little to no regard for human life, both on her side and theirs. Her cold-hearted approach would earn her a nickname 'The Wall,' and with a fearsome reputation to match. A reputation that would find itself in the deepest, darkest, and seediest corners of the world, including Nanda Parbat itself.
"Mr. Wilson." she smiled, cold as ice.
"Amanda." Slade controlled his fury, mindful of all the guns pointing at him and his companions. Technically, the only one at risk was Oliver, but better safe than sorry.
"I see you've brought friends." she observed the four, her teeth glinting. "Miss Danvers. Mr. Allen. Mr. Queen. And I believe that is Mr. Kent behind the car, correct?"
Kara, Barry, and Oliver remained steadfastly silent, simply glaring at the woman who had made their surrogate father's life hell for the last eight years.
"Not talking? Or would you like me to address you by your other names?"
"Saraab." Kara clenched her fists.
"Al Sa'iqa." Barry grit his teeth.
"Al Sah-him." Oliver closed his eyes and pursed his lips together into a thin line.
"You want to know, don't you? How I know about you – who you are, what you are." Her smirk tightened as she continued. "Or is this enough to convince you?"
She rifled into her jacket, and took it out – a knife, attached with a blade made of a glowing, green substance.
The aggression in everyone's stances, sans Slade's, melted away instantly. Kara dropped down to the ground, her eyes wide and focused entirely on the knife. Barry and Oliver's eyes were also wide, and they allowed their self-control to slip, making small noises of disbelief. Kal was shaking, staring at the weapon in fear.
Slade saw all this and relaxed his own stance, watching their reactions in confusion. "Oliver?"
"It's Kryptonite." Oliver answered, already knowing what Slade was about to ask. "It's one of the only substances, if not the only substance, that can harm Kara and Kal-El." Slade cursed, and he glared at Amanda even harder than before.
Barry growled. "How?" he demanded.
Amanda calmly rolled her shoulders, tilting her head, allowing the knife to rest on her chin. "It's my job to know."
"What do you want, Waller?" Kara asked, tone lightly trembling. She and Kal-El did not have fond memories of the last time they had encountered kryptonite.
"A lot of things. And what you want, is for daddy over there to go free, right?"
Amanda smiled once again, and now there was no doubt in anyone's heart – she had the devil's grin.
"To talk."
Click!
Beside Amanda, a picture appeared on the large screen, of a structure that was clearly alien in origin. It wasn't hard for everyone to connect the dots. Oliver, Slade, Barry, Kara, and Kal were all seated in a crescent, grimacing at the image.
"Fort Rozz." Kara murmured.
"It crash-landed here about ten years ago, in Nevada. We cordoned off the area immediately and went to investigate, but the first team we sent in was killed. We sent in another team, with significantly more firepower, and they were all killed as well."
"Which is when you sent in an army." Oliver said grimly.
"They killed a number of us before stealing some of our vehicles, or, in the case of others, flying off, scattering to the four winds. We have had sightings of one or two suspected prisoners, but we have yet to capture any of them. We do know, however, that some of them – who had the same powers as you, Miss Danvers – were capable of being harmed by this." With that, the A.R.G.U.S. director placed the Kryptonite knife on the center of the table. Kara looked away slightly, while Kal grasped her sleeve tightly.
"It was Krypton's super-max prison. It only figures there would be some Kryptonian prisoners." Barry said resignedly.
Oliver sighed. "You want us to capture the prisoners, don't you?"
"Yes. Work with us on that front, and Mr. Wilson here will go free. And considering how you were already planning on going after these prisoners, I'd call that quite the bargain deal." Amanda suggested slyly.
Oliver rested his chin on his hand. "And what's to stop us from just killing you instead, for all you've done to him?"
Amanda smirked. "Besides the U.S. government? I have resources that not even the League has. Such as access to an entire supply of this." she placed the tip of her finger on the knife.
Everyone remained stonily silent at that. It was League mandate to destroy any Kryptonite found. But if there were truly some rogue Kryptonians mulling about – well, that mandate would have to be abolished soon. Until then, however…
"How much do you know?" Oliver demanded quietly.
"About you?" Amanda's smirk widened. "Quite a bit. Of course, I first heard of you from a mercenary who had been under my employ at the time: Edward Fyers. Imagine my surprise when I found out that a two-year operation had been taken down by a rogue ASIS operative, a med student, and three children. But even then, you weren't ordinary children, were you?" No one rose to the bait, continuing to glare at her instead.
"I was planning on grabbing all of you, not just Slade here, after the Amazo sunk. But you weren't found – the League got to you first. At first, I assumed you were dead, until years later, when the rumors started."
"Saraab. The girl whose powers were out of this world. You were a phantom killer – the authorities could never connect any assassinations to you, because they were impossible for a single human to commit. You melted the insides of people with your heat vision, caved in the heads of others with a single blow. You froze them alive and shattered their bodies into fragments of ice. You found so many different ways to kill people with your powers, I couldn't help but be impressed when I finally connected the dots." Kara perked up slightly, though her face remained unemotive.
"Al Sa'iqa. The most brilliant mind to have ever entered the service of the Demon's Head. Your kills were quick, instantaneous, and at many times, ingenious – but that's not where your true value lied. No, you proved your value with the countless contributions you made to the scientific field, biological and technological, medicine and weaponry. It was you who spearheaded the League into the twenty-first century." Barry palmed the bottom of his face, glaring.
"And finally, Al Sah-him. The man who speaks a hundred languages. You were supposed to be the dead weight. The one who was only supposed to be another body that would die in service to the Demon's Head. But you proved your value, training constantly, and with that, your true talent shined. On top of your impressive linguistic skills, you were also a combat prodigy only seen once in a lifetime, the greatest warrior the League has ever produced to have never worn the Demon's Ring. It's even been rumored you are a greater warrior than the current Ra's al Ghul himself." Unlike the other two, Oliver had no reaction to Amanda's description of him, his face like marble.
"Together, with Nyssa al Ghul, the Heir to the Demon, you were his horsemen – the Four Horsemen. You were extensions of his will, his sword and, the rare times he needed it, his shield. He devoted months of his personal time and poured countless amounts of resources into your training, and I dare say, he was rewarded handsomely."
"Take pride, Slade – your three eldest children are, without a doubt, the three most dangerous people in the world."
A person could hear a pin drop.
No one needed to look at Slade to see how he was feeling right now. The guilt eating away at him, knowing that he left them to that terrible fate. They all wanted to comfort him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault. But they were in the lion's den, and that meant showing no weakness.
"You know too much." Oliver spoke, face still uncut stone.
Amanda's devil smile deepened. "I know just enough. I also know that, with my knowledge, every single one of your instincts are demanding that you kill me, here and now. But you won't."
"And what makes you say that?" Barry asked, one of his hands already reaching for one of his hidden knives.
"Because if I die, Slade Wilson goes to the very top of the wanted list, and his face will be plastered on every news channel on the planet. Any hope of a life with all of you, with his sons, goes down the drain. And that's just about last thing you all want, right?"
The silence returned. Barry's hand stopped reaching for the knife, and receded back to his lap. Kara sighed.
"We'll take the deal. As for the Kryptonite – if it is alright with you, we would like to have it forged into a number of weapons for us. If we really are dealing with a group of rogue Kryptonians, we need every advantage we can get."
"All of you?" Amanda asked pointedly, no doubt wondering if Kara could handle have something so potentially lethal close to her.
"My suit was specifically designed by Barry to negate the effects of Kryptonite near me. I can handle it." Kara answered, tugging at her shirt. In reality, Barry had modified all of her clothes to protect her from Kryptonite, as long as she didn't directly touch it – Kara, however, knew better to reveal such information to a potential enemy.
"Very well. I'm glad we all managed to reach an understanding." This time, even Kal-El couldn't resist glaring at her. "Agent Yamashiro is waiting outside the door. He will escort all of you back to Starling City proper. And one last thing." Amanda grabbed another item from inside her jacket: a flash drive. She placed it on the table, next to the knife.
"This is all the information we managed to download from the servers of Fort Rozz. It isn't much, but I'm sure you can find a use for it. Take the knife as well – I'll have another one forged for myself soon enough."
"Thank you, Director Waller. If any of us ever see you again, it will be far, far too soon." Barry made the group's parting words as they all got up to leave.
"Likewise, Mr. Allen."
"She really is the devil incarnate." Oliver muttered to Slade as they followed Maseo to a darkly-colored SUV.
Slade clicked his teeth. "When someone finally sends her to hell, Satan himself will have to vacate the throne."
Woo! That's done! Happy New Year everyone! This was a fun chapter to write. We get more Waller, The Bitch herself, and we get a little more elaboration on what our little trinity did as members of the League. And trust me, it was not pretty.
The trio really are that dangerous, which is why I'm not worried about sending them against the Season 1 villains and calling it "too soon". While they are major villains, they are also major "starter" villains. Every other major villain after they is going to be infinitely more dangerous than them.
As for the Kryptonite thing – the trinity had to transverse all over the world for their missions. They were going to run into Kryptonite eventually. Unfortunately, it wasn't Kara who was first to encounter it, but Kal, which is why he has such a tough time looking at the knife.